Your Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Wedding- December 2020/Janaury 2021 (Issue 24)

REAL WEDDINGS 29  cake. The top two tiers were made from ivory buttercream while ivory fondant icing was used on the bottom tier together with handmade sugar twists decorating the bottom layer. The top tier was a fruitcake, the middle one was chocolate and the bottom tier was lemon-flavoured – it was delicious!” The catering was taken care of by the talented team at Clearwell Castle which included the arrival drinks, canapés, wedding breakfast and the evening buffet. Danielle got creative and made the table centrepieces from empty gin bottles. “We placed different gin bottles filled with fairylights next to ivory birdcages holding candles on each table with scattered crystals in the centre,” she tells us. “Our mirrored table plan displayed our guests’ names underneath each gin bottle and I ordered the template for the place names on Etsy and then changed the font to suit our theme.” LOOKING THE PART Danielle’s dress was a fishtail gown with cut-out detail at the sides. “It featured pearl beading and a train at the back. I teamed it with a veil, which I initially had no intention of wearing but my younger sister suggested it and I loved it,” she tells us. She carried a stunning shower-style bridal bouquet featuring burgundy and ivory flowers that included black baccara roses, ivory cymbidium orchids and burgundy hypericum berries. “It complemented my dress beautifully,” Danielle tells us. “Our bridesmaids held bouquets of gypsophila that suited the burgundy dresses that they had chosen themselves, and gypsophila was also used in the buttonholes, while the corsages for our mums included the deep burgundy black baccara roses.” Adrian and his groomsmen chose traditional navy morning suits paired with pale gold waistcoats, grey herringbone trousers, and burgundy cravats and pocket-handkerchiefs. TIME TO CELEBRATE The team at Clearwell Castle organised a DJ for the evening disco which was held in the old recording studio located in the basement. “When we sent out our invitations, we asked our guests to list three songs that they would dance to if they were played,” Danielle tells us. “This meant that we had a full playlist to please everyone.” The couple also organised a photo booth, where their guests could dress up with fun hats, wigs and glasses. “The booth printed out two strips of four passport-style photographs so that our guests had a memento and we could make a memory book where everyone could leave a message for us,” Danielle explains. The couple also had Jemima Phillips, former harpist to HRH The Prince of Wales, play music that they had chosen. This varied from romantic tracks as the guests arrived, to the Glasgow Love Theme by Craig Armstrong taken from the film Love Actually as Danielle walked down the aisle. She also played some funky rock songs during the drinks. “Everyone loved it when she played Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N Roses - it sounded fantastic!” Danielle says. “I stayed at the castle the night before our wedding with my sister and two best friends and Adrian arrived on the wedding morning in his Porsche. We arranged for some of our guests, who were coming from Cheltenham, to be picked up and dropped back to a central point in by a minibus operated by Bouden Coach Travel which helped everyone.” - Danielle.